Hypertext Webster Gateway: "quibble"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Quibble \Quib"ble\, n. [Probably fr. quib, quip, but influenced
by quillet, or quiddity.]
1. A shift or turn from the point in question; a trifling or
evasive distinction; an evasion; a cavil.
Quibbles have no place in the search after truth. --
I. Watts.
2. A pun; a low conceit.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Quibble \Quib"ble\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Quibbled}; p. pr. & vb.
n. {Quibbling}.]
1. To evade the point in question by artifice, play upon
words, caviling, or by raising any insignificant or
impertinent question or point; to trifle in argument or
discourse; to equivocate.
2. To pun; to practice punning. --Cudworth.
Syn: To cavil; shuffle; equivocate; trifle.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
quibble
n : an evasion of the point of an argument by raising irrelevant
distinctions or objections [syn: {quiddity}]
v 1: evade the truth of a point or question by raising irrelevant
objections
2: argue over petty things; "Let's not quibble over pennies"
[syn: {niggle}, {pettifog}, {bicker}, {squabble}, {brabble}]
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